Mothers of Iran hikers return, without their children

NEW YORK – The mothers of three American hikers detained in Iran returned to the United States Saturday, without their children.

The three women spent the past two days in Tehran, meeting with their children who have been in an Iranian jail since July. The mothers were wearing long black robes and holding bouquets of flowers during the meeting.

Twenty-seven-year-old Josh Fattal, who lived in Cottage Grove, was one of those hikers. He was visiting his college friends Sarah Shourd, 31, and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Shane Bauer, in the Middle East July 31. The trio reportedly left to take a hike in Iraq's mountainous area near the resort town of Ahmed Awaa, not knowing the hike was mere miles from the Iranian border.

Iran authorities detained the three Americans along the Iraqi border and have accused them of entering from Iraqi territory and spying. Their relatives reject the accusation and, according to the Associated Press, said the three were hiking in Iraq's scenic and largely peaceful northern Kurdish region.

Iran granted the women visas to visit their children in what it said was an Islamic humanitarian gesture and the Americans appealed to them to release the three on the same grounds.

"We hope we're going home soon, maybe with our mothers," Cottage Grove's Josh Fattal said at the time.

The women thanked the Iranians for allowing them to see the three, and said they were disappointed they could not return with their children.